Tour of Somerville: A family tradition rain or shine

Predictions of heavy rain motivated several Morris County towns to postpone their Memorial Day parades. But several ceremonies were held, along with sun-blessed parades in two towns. IPHONE VIDEO BY WILLIAM WESTHOVEN MAY 30 2016

In addition to the several races that were run through the streets of Somerville, dancers, acrobats and martial artists, as well as some live bands, performed in the Division Street plaza

Jeff Jewett, Shannon Savage and Socha Savage came to the Tour of Somerville so Socha could ride in some family races.(Photo: r of)

SOMERVILLE - Memorial Day dawned with showers and even threatening floods in parts of New Jersey. The flood watch from the National Weather Serviced in effect until noon in Somerset and Middlesex counties was enough to inspire local officials to cancel or postpone events. The New Brunswick-Highland Park parade was canceled, as was the Bradley Gardens parade in Bridgewater.

In Somerville, the Memorial Day Parade at 9 a.m. and the first event of the 73rd Tour of Somerville, the 10 a.m. Family Fun Ride, were canceled. But the rest of the schedule for the schedule played out to an enthusiastic, if somewhat smaller crowd. Although the rain disappeared before 10 a.m. and the day remained partly sunny, many people who might have come apparently stayed home, discouraged by the weather.

The rain couldn't dampen the spirits of those who came, though. Shannon Savage and Jeff Jewett, who live a few blocks from the Somerville Courthouse, were there on the lawn with their daughter, Socha, and their friend Kendra Maas and her son, Jack.

They came early for the Family Fun Ride and didn't let its cancellation spoil their fun.

"We had our own family fun ride," Jewett explained. "We bought a bike just the other day from Middle Earth, and that's what Socha rode. They recondition bikes, I think to train kids in their after-school program.

"They have a booth right over there," he said, pointing. "We bought a rainbow bike for Socha this year because she outgrew the one we bought last year. It's a great program and I expect we'll make this a tradition."

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Savage and Jewett have a friend on High Street on the route of the race, and they planned to take Socha there after the Kid Sprints sponsored by the Somerville Elks at 1:30 p.m. Socha wasn 't going to miss a second bike ride.

A European flavor

Rutger van Sleeuwen was there with his wife, Lauren, their young daughter Lilly and their even younger son, Luke. They enjoy the Tour of Somerville event so much that they have attended every year since they moved to Somerville in 2008.

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The van Sleeuwen family and their friends came to the Tour of Somerville. The Van Sleeuwens, who live in Somerville, come every year.(Photo: Pamela MacKenzie/Staff photo)

"It's one of those things that makes us proud of our town," van Sleeuwen said. "I grew up in the Netherlands, where we used to have criteriums after the Tour de France. This reminds me of those. We're big fans of cycling, so I really enjoy this race."

In bicycling circles, a criterium is a multi-lap race run on closed city streets in a small loop, usually one mile or less. Their courses are relatively flat. Such races test a cyclist's ability to handle a bike in tight, crowded situations, demanding perfectly executed turns at fast speeds as the riders jockey for better positions in the pack. The Tour of Somerville fits this definition. It is unlike other tours, such as the Tour de France, where the route is long and not a loop.

Attention to detail

It takes a lot of organization to put together a race like the Tour of Somerville, even though it it has been run 73 times. Many groups participate to make the day go smoothly. One of them is the Somerville Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), which assisted the Somerville Police Department on Monday in monitoring the cross walks across the racing route. Pat Mannion, owner of Manion's Pub on Main Street, is the current leader of the local CERT.

"We have about 20 people here today, helping out crowd control," he said. "Our key thing is to keep people safe and away from the track," he added.

Mannion was sitting at the CERT tent near the courthouse steps with Tony DeMatteo, who coordinates the Somerset County CERT, an organization that helps the towns that don't have their own CERT team, towns such as Bernards, Montgomery or Bedminster. DeMatteo said he lived 30 years in Branchburg and knows people throughout the county, even though he now lives in Piscataway.

"Somerset County is a good fit for me," he said.

Anyone who wants more information about the Somerville or Somerset County CERTS can contact Mannion through SomervilleNJ.org.

"We're always signing up new people," Mannion said.

The Somerville CERT has about 45 people, and the Somerset County CERT has about 70.

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This is one of the many acrobats from the Somerville YMCA who performed on the Division St. Plaza during the Tour of Somerville.(Photo: Pamela MacKenzie/Staff photo)

Beneficiaries

The Tour of Somerville is free to attend, but the organizers do raise money through sponsorships.

The money goes for prizes, the expenses of producing the event and a nonprofit organization that is making the community a better place. This year's beneficiary from the funds of the Tour of Somerville is Jack's Kids, an organization that raises money for the families of sick children (often terminally ill children), so that the families can concentrate on healing and caring for their sick child without worrying about how their next bill will get paid. It is a function of the Somerville Elks Lodge 1068, where Jack Gardner was a longtime member. Jack's fund is named for Gardner.

In addition to the funds that it will receive from the Tour of Somerville, Jack's Fund raises money with a big bowling tournament in the winter, Friday night dinners at the Elks Club every month or two and a softball tournament each July, because Gardner was a very big fan of baseball. The softball tournament involves teams made up of firefighters, police and other volunteers.

If you would like to enter a team the tournament, or if you would like to contribute to Jack's Kids in any way, contact Jack's Kids at 908-722-4 634, ElksJacksKids1068@gmail.com, or www.JacksKids.org.